In honor of summer, vacations and that most sublime of summer drinks, the Margarita (an excellent recipe can be found here), we give you the perfect Messaging recipe:

Messaging Recipe

Serves two to four quarters, depending on how much your market is changing

Ingredients

Positioning Statement (for company, product, service, etc.)

1 part Buyer Understanding (100% researched, preferably with Personas and Journey Maps)

1 part Competitive Research, making sure insights from Win / Loss reports are fully blended

Benefit Statements with supporting proof points to sprinkle liberally through-out

Preparation

First, carefully review your current positioning statement as your completed messaging must align to and support your positioning.

Next, squeeze out all the benefit statements applicable to your offering. Combine these with supporting proof points such as customer case studies, benchmark reports, press or industry analyst reports, etc. Remember, benefits statements without proof points can sour. Set aside and keep cool. (Alternatively, you can share these with others on your team now to get initial feedback.)

In a separate exercise, sift your buyer understanding for the important pain points and challenges your buyers described that led them to purchasing a solution. Combine these with the insights you gained from competitive research to distill the most important, top-level messages about your company or offering with special emphasis on any key differentiators.

Now, review your benefits statements to see which ones best support your top-level messages. Tie benefits statements and proof points to the top-level messages they best support. To finish, review your new messaging framework with relevant colleagues and, adjust wording to taste.

Serve as the base ingredient for all your collateral, content, campaigns and communications. Garnish with graphics and imagery.

Eh, voila!

Learn more about crafting relevant messaging.